ashton is four

i spent some time at her house today.  and our conversation was beautifully refreshing.  we had way more questions than we had answers, but i do feel like i have this renewed vision of just doing and serving and loving right where i am.  i feel as though i pour too much energy and emotion into figuring out what i should be doing, how i should be spending my time, who i should be investing in.  when in reality, i just need to do the next best thing, trusting that God will use me.  asking for opportunities to be the good news and then loving and serving whoever i find myself standing next too.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and i just happen to be standing next to this little girl a whole lot.  

and she turned 4 on sunday.  4!  i don't like it.  not one bit.  i don't understand why an entire year happens in the blink of an eye.  ugh.

here she is with her birthday donut the morning of her 4th birthday.

daddy did some chalkboard art for her rapunzel party. 

the kids enjoying their donuts

dave's mom made ashton a LONG yarn braid.  oh how she adores that thing.

see, it really is LONG.

after church and naps we did our family tradition of red robin.  and yes, ash had to have an entourage carry her hair.

they brought her a sundae and sang their super fast version of happy birthday.

they were a bit too loud for miss ash.

birthday sundae at two

birthday sundae at three (yes, she's in the exact same dress as last year)

dave helped me with her tower cake, i think he did a pretty great job making that stack of donuts look somewhat like a tower.  

i wish i could capture with words what my heart feels towards this little girl. she is so easy to please, so content with whatever we seem to be doing, she's very go with the flow and has such a thankful spirit.  she's a delight, it's fun to enjoy her and be with her and she's changing all the time; growing all the time.   i spent some time going through old blog posts and oh man, i just adored ashton as an 18 month old!  i miss 18 month old ashton!  and was head over heels for her as a two year old.  she was just too much.  i miss 2 year old ashton.  and i KNOW i'll say the same about her as a four year old.  who she is at 4 is most definitely not who she'll be forever and i want to enjoy every ounce of it.  i don't want to miss it.

and i really love her little feet.  seriously, they're adorable.

happy birthday ashton kate!